Podcast: The IDEMS Podcast

David and Lucie reflect on outcomes of the recent Farmer Research Network (FRN) convening led by the McKnight Foundation’s Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems programme. Bringing together researchers, farmers, NGOs and other stakeholders in agroecology from four continents, the four day convening was rich in learnings.

Lily and David consider the concept of “wicked problems” (sometimes referred to as “grand challenges”): those problems that are inherently unsolvable and require continuous incremental improvements. In a wide-ranging conversation, they touch on the importance of imagination in envisioning positive futures and the role of different contexts in shaping educational outcomes.

In this episode, Lily and David discuss the unintended consequences of data misuse, highlighting how outdated survey responses can adversely affect individuals. They explore the balance between human judgement and automated systems, emphasising the need for improved data practices and hybrid approaches.

David Stern and George Simmons discuss the concept of collaborative modelling and its transdisciplinary nature. Considering examples from various fields, including agriculture, ecology, and disease modelling, they highlight the need for better communication and collaboration among experts from different disciplines.

Lucie and David continue their discussion about Communities of Practice, focusing this time on the distinction between communities that have emerged ‘naturally’ and those that have been created.

David sits down with Sue Johnson, one of IDEMS’ non-executive directors (NEDs). They discuss Sue’s transition from the corporate world to her role at IDEMS, motivated by the organisation’s focus on social impact, and their recent in-person team meeting. Considering R-Instat in particular, Sue provides some insights into the challenges of effectively communicating IDEMS’ projects…

At the 100th episode milestone, directors David Stern, Kate Fleming, and Danny Parsons meet to celebrate their journey and discuss the evolution of The IDEMS Podcast.

Do you feel like using generative AI is affecting your cognitive abilities? In this episode, Lily expresses that she believes that using such tools for some tasks has had a negative impact on her ability to perform those tasks herself. David has an interesting perspective on why this needn’t necessarily be seen as a problem…

In this episode, David and Abib discuss their decade-long friendship and Abib’s journey from being part of the inaugural cohort at AIMS Ghana to making impactful contributions in data analysis and university policies. Their conversation covers the evolution of AIMS programs, Abib’s diverse career across Africa, and a significant project showing sports admissions do not…

The Agroecology (AE) Hub, a community of NGOs working with smallholder farmers in Kenya that IDEMS has been supporting for the last 5 years, is entering a new phase. David and Lucie review some of the outcomes of the AE Hub’s activities following a symposium that brought together all of the members to identify potential…